Pregnant After One Night With My Brother's Best Friend 의 모든 챕터: 챕터 1 - 챕터 10

Emery's POV "Is Alaric Ford still lodged here?" My voice barely comes out steady. The receptionist looks up from her screen, and I press my fingers tighter around the cash folded inside my bag. I've brought enough to bribe my way past security if I have to. She types something, then glances at me and smiles like she already understands everything. "Yes, he is." She slides a keycard across the counter. "Mr. Ford mentioned his guest would be arriving soon. Room 402. Fourth floor, room on your right." I blink at her. No ID. No questions. No second look at the black dress I've borrowed from my friend. I pick up the card slowly. Alaric Ford, the man who cancels dates because he has responsibilities, the man who once left a party early because the music was too loud, has told the front desk he is expecting a woman tonight. That doesn't sound like him. Then again, maybe I never really knew him the way I thought I did. I thank her and walk toward the elevators before my le

Emery's POV Three weeks pass in a blur I barely remember living through.I go to design class, come home, and spend most of my time staring at my phone, waiting for a call that never comes. I try Alaric's number whenever the ache becomes too much to ignore, but every time, the same mechanical voice tells me the number is unavailable.He has really left. Exactly like he said he would.One evening, I am rinsing a bowl when Finn walks into the kitchen, scrolling through his phone."Huh.""What?""Alaric's engaged."The bowl nearly slips from my hands."What?""Yeah. Look."He turns his phone toward me. Alaric stands in a dark suit beside a woman I do not recognize, cameras flashing around them. The caption mentions a merger between two families."Guess Canada's treating him well," Finn mutters before scrolling on.I force a smile. "Guess so."I excuse myself before he can see it crack.The nausea starts the following week. At first, I blame stress. Then coffee, certain foods, even Fin

Alaric's POVToday is my mother's death anniversary.Because of me.Seven years ago, on this exact date, I was in Miami, drowning myself in whiskey, trying to silence the guilt inside me and the longing I'd spent years suppressing for a certain girl.I ended up in a hotel room with a stranger whose name I never bothered to remember.Her body was warm beneath my hands. She should have been enough to make me forget.But all I could see was my best friend's little sister. The girl I'd spent five years wanting and another seven years pretending I didn't.The moment I closed my eyes, her face flashed through my mind without warning— the faint redness around her eyes when she looked at me, the hint of a smile she tried to hide, and that gaze of hers that always made me feel as though I were standing too close to a flame.My breathing grew heavier.That night, I tried to bury my emotions in another woman's arms, yet every cell in my body screamed her name.Eme...It burned painfully behind m

Alaric's POVI stand in the parking lot long after her taillights disappear, my hands still clenched at my sides.She isn't nineteen anymore. That much hits me the second she steps out of the building, chin held high, eyes cold. The soft, hopeful girl who used to blush whenever I ruffled her hair is gone.This Emery Collins is sharper. More guarded.Armor. She has built it without me.And I hate how badly I want to find the crack in it.I get into the car but don't start the engine. Her words keep replaying in my head."You don't get to question how I spend my time. You lost that right seven years ago. On that park bench."She is right. I’ve made that clear. I made it clear at that park bench when I told her she was a kid, made it clear when I got on a plane three days later and let seven years pass without a single call.So what right do I have to be angry about the man who has gotten her pregnant?None.And yet, the thought of some stranger touching her still makes something ugly tw

Emery's POV"Alaric." I keep my voice low, mindful of the bedroom door behind me. "I need to get some sleep."He doesn't move.Instead, he steps closer, narrowing the already cramped space between us until my back nearly touches the wall.I go completely still.His scent reaches me before I can stop it. For one dizzying second, I'm back in that dark hotel room seven years ago, before everything between us falls apart.I force the memory down.This is now. I'm standing in a hallway three feet from my sleeping son."He is six years old," he says quietly, watching me with an intensity that makes my skin prickle."Yes.""Seven years since I left." His eyes stay fixed on mine. "Six years since he was born."I frown, my patience beginning to wear thin. "What exactly are you getting at?"His jaw tightens. "So what happened?" His voice drops, rougher now. "You hooked up with some stranger the second I got on that plane?"The words hit me like a slap. "Excuse me?""You moved on quickly."I sta